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Government Democracy Anarchy Theocracy Oligarchy
Dictatorship Autocracy Republic
Why Do Governments Exist?
Why Do Governments Exist?
One major reason is that they create rules (laws). But what rules are necessary or desirable? That is open to question, and different types of governments have certainly created a wide variety of rules. Governments originated with the need to protect people from conflicts, their rights, and to provide law and order.
A government is the organization inside a country that controls the actions and policies of the country. A government has four main roles.
First a government makes laws. In this role, the government provides rules for how things inside the country are run. The US Congress is tasked to make laws in the US under Article 1 of the US Constitution.
A government is also responsible for protecting the country. In this role, the government provides a military to defend the country against outside attack. The US Army, Airforce, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Space Force are tasked to protect the US.
Third, a government keeps order inside the country. It does this by establishing law enforcement agencies that deal with criminal activity. Organizations in the US the keep order include the FBI, DHS, and the IRS are some examples.
Finally, a government usually helps its citizens by providing services people need. This can be anything from a post office to paving streets to providing health care, public education, unemployment benefits, and/or financial benefits.
Who Rules? Who has the power?
Who Rules? Who has the power?
When analyzing governments, many look at who has the power. Many words are used to describe governments. Often times the prefix in the word with the suffixes -archy and -cracy describes who has the power in the government.
Archy? Cracy? = rule
Words ending in -archy are abstract nouns for types of government, leadership, or social influence or organization. They correspond to nouns in -arch for a person or people who rule or command in that way. For example, a monarch (Greek monos, alone or single) is a sovereign head of state, in a type of government called monarchy.
Like the suffix -archy, the suffix -cracy is often seen in describing governments. Many terms with the suffix -cracy have been coined, though only a small number are at all well known; most can mean either a system of influence or rule or a society so ruled, as with democracy, (demos=people) people rule by voting; a few can also refer to the rulers as a group, as with aristocracy (Greek aristos, best), rule by members of the highest social class.
(SS.Civ.2-MC: Analyze the power and limits of governments, public officials, and bureaucracies at different levels in the United States and other countries.)
Someone’s Got to Be In Charge.
Why do you think it is important to learn about the different types of government?
Major Government Types
Major Government Types
(SS.Civ.2-MC: Analyze the power and limits of governments, public officials, and bureaucracies at different levels in the United States and other countries.)
If you compared all the governments in the world, you would find one thing in common: Someone is in charge. The question is, who? There are many different forms of government. Some have one leader who has all the control. Others give power to the people. Here are some forms of government that exist (or have existed) in the world:
Power to the People! (Democracy & Republic)
Power to the People! (Democracy & Republic)
Growing up in the United States you've most certainly heard of democracy. In a democracy, citizens hold the political power. There are two fundamental types of democracies: a representative democracy and a direct democracy. Demos means people, cracy means rule. In a democracy, people rule by voting.
Most countries with a democracy have a representative democracy (democratic republic), where citizens elect leaders to represent their rights and interests in a republic. The elected leaders, or representatives, do the day-to-day work of governing the country: They consider the issues, work to find solutions, pass laws, and do all of the other things necessary to keep a country going. Citizens hold the ultimate power, though, because if they don’t like what their representatives are doing, they can vote in new ones! Individual liberties are protected under a democratic republic.
A democracy where the people decide everything is called a direct democracy. No countries have a 100% direct democracy because of the amount of time taken up with voting on every little thing and the fear of "Tyranny of the Majority" where if 51% of the people want something, they get it, even if it's really mean or unfair to the other 49%.
In a direct democracy, there are no representatives. Citizens are directly involved in the day-to-day work of governing the country. Citizens might be required to participate in lawmaking or act as judges, for example. The best example of this was in the ancient Greek city-state called Athens. Most modern countries are too large for a direct democracy to work and risks the "tyranny of the mob" that our founding fathers warned about. In a direct democracy, 51% or more of the people rule.
King / Queen
You recall that before the founding of the U.S., the English Colonies in North America were ruled by the King of England. A monarchy (mono=one, archy=ruler) is a form of government where the head of state is a single person, usually called a King or Queen. Unlike a president, who is elected by the people, a monarch typically gets their job through hereditary succession, meaning the power stays in one family and is passed down from parents to their children.
Group Work!
Group Work!
In an oligarchy (OH-lih-gar-kee), a small group of people has all the power. Oligarchy is a Greek word that means “rule by a few.” The prefix Oligio means a few. Sometimes this means that only a certain group has political rights, such as members of one political party, one social class, or one race. For example, in some societies, only noble families who owned land could participate in politics. An oligarchy can also mean that a few people control the country. For example, a junta is a small group of people, usually military officers, who rule a country after taking it over by force. A junta often operates much like a dictatorship, except that several people share power.
Religious Rule
Religious Rule
A theocracy is a government that recognizes God or a divine being as the ultimate authority. (“Theo” is a Greek word that means god.) In a theocracy, religious law is used to settle disputes and rule the people. A theocracy can also be a democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, or just about any other kind of government. For example, the Republic of Iran recognizes Islamic law, but Iran’s citizens vote to elect their leaders. Modern theocracies are usually found in countries where the population is strongly religious.
Rule by One
Rule by One
Autocracy (auto=self): The Power of One
Autocracy (auto=self): The Power of One
Autocracy is the broadest term. It describes any government where one person has all the power. Think of it as an umbrella: both dictatorships and absolute monarchies (like kings of the past) are types of autocracies. In an autocracy, the leader doesn't have to follow a constitution or ask voters for permission. There are many autocracies in the world but most take the form of the previous discussed monarchy while others can be a dictatorship.
Dictatorship: Power by Force
Dictatorship: Power by Force
A dictatorship is a specific type of autocracy. Unlike a king who inherits a throne, a dictator usually takes power by force or through political trickery. They often use the military to keep control and stay in power for life. If you disagree with a dictator, there are rarely legal ways to voice your opinion.
Rule by None
Rule by None
In an anarchy, nobody is in control, or everyone is, depending on how you look at it. The Greek prefix "an" means against; therefore anarchy (an-against; archy-rule), means against any rule. Sometimes the word anarchy is used to refer to an out-of-control mob. When it comes to government, anarchy would be one way to describe the human state of existence before any governments developed. It would be similar to the way animals live in the wild, with everyone looking out for themselves.
Adapted from iCivics - http://socialsciences.dadeschools.net/files/WTP/High%20School%20WTP%20Framework/WTP%20Lesson%201%20from%20iCivics-1.pdf
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